Writing in The Telegraph, civil servant Ameer Kotecha (Ex-diplomat, Head of British Consulate in Russia 2023-25) has written an expose of life inside the civil service.
Assuming that the school/college/university where your son teaches has a Biology department, you might suggest he asks someone there this question. Although there is a non-zero chance that they have been infected with the same idiocy.
I suppose your conversation could have been worse. He might have informed you that he now identified as a female, and that you now had a daughter.
Agree with you about the great change in the university sector. When Blair brought in the drive for Education x 3, every college and polytechnic was rushing to convert to a university. I did my doctorate at what was originally Woolwich Polytechnic (having part-time and evening classes), which then became Thames Polytechnic, and finally the University of Greenwich. All for the great prize of having professors and chancellors - and obviously far higher salaries. And along came the rise of fabricated courses such as Surfboarding with Basketry.
It was believed at the time that even sixth-form colleges were wanting to become universities, for the extra money.
We really do need to getting back to polytechnics again and stop them becoming universities.
Just this minute I've had LibDem local councillor candidates knock on my door and making their pitch for the local elections and even they said they want a bonfire of the quangos....I found myself making some of your points.
I think you’re right that some government bodies work well, with clear and limited remits. The DVLA and Passport Office work pretty well. Our local planning office meanwhile is under resourced for the volume of detailed cases it has to deal with. This requires experienced professionals with local knowledge to sift through hundreds of pages of evidence and produce detailed reports. Our civil service suffers a perfect storm of problems. More demanding rules and regulations. A smaller cadre of experienced people to deal with them. A culture that doesn’t provide for or respect the dull but essential functionary who is caught between spreadsheet management at the top and at the other end the ones that haven’t found better paid jobs elsewhere.
"the MoD sucks at - precisely because defence priorities and requirements are always changing. That has always been the case which is why there is no era in history when British defence procurement was ever good."
Yes: we are not good at defining a moving target and it used to be very rare to have a prime contractor which meant that suppliers of one item could say its the other suppliers fault (that the wheel doesn't fit because the maker of the axle got it wrong, or whatever). A prime contractor is responsible for making all the parts work together.
It isn't quite as simple as blaming the changing requirements. One of the many problems is that contractors put their best personnel into their contracts divisions, whilst the civil service sees it as just a boring back office job with inevitable consequences. There are a multitude of other problems that I don't want to go into.
My 35 year old son is a perfect example of the politicised Education system.
Privately educated and 3 years in university.
He teaches mathematics in London.
Eighteen months ago he stood in front of me and tried to convince me there were more than 2 sexes in human biology.
I told him what I thought.
He hasn't spoken to me since.
Losing a relative to wokery is painful.
...and expensive...!!!
Assuming that the school/college/university where your son teaches has a Biology department, you might suggest he asks someone there this question. Although there is a non-zero chance that they have been infected with the same idiocy.
I suppose your conversation could have been worse. He might have informed you that he now identified as a female, and that you now had a daughter.
I cannot fathom how the binary division of XX or XY baffles - other than by brainwashing
I hope you have amended your will accordingly.
That is very sad, for you both.
Frustrating...
At least he'd learnt enough mathematics to count beyond two.
Very sad but I’d imagine not unusual. My son and his wife recently had a child which seems to have brought into real world thinking.
Agree with you about the great change in the university sector. When Blair brought in the drive for Education x 3, every college and polytechnic was rushing to convert to a university. I did my doctorate at what was originally Woolwich Polytechnic (having part-time and evening classes), which then became Thames Polytechnic, and finally the University of Greenwich. All for the great prize of having professors and chancellors - and obviously far higher salaries. And along came the rise of fabricated courses such as Surfboarding with Basketry.
It was believed at the time that even sixth-form colleges were wanting to become universities, for the extra money.
We really do need to getting back to polytechnics again and stop them becoming universities.
Just this minute I've had LibDem local councillor candidates knock on my door and making their pitch for the local elections and even they said they want a bonfire of the quangos....I found myself making some of your points.
Don’t fall for that crap whatever you do. They’d create a Ministry of Silly Walks for their retarded leader.
I think you’re right that some government bodies work well, with clear and limited remits. The DVLA and Passport Office work pretty well. Our local planning office meanwhile is under resourced for the volume of detailed cases it has to deal with. This requires experienced professionals with local knowledge to sift through hundreds of pages of evidence and produce detailed reports. Our civil service suffers a perfect storm of problems. More demanding rules and regulations. A smaller cadre of experienced people to deal with them. A culture that doesn’t provide for or respect the dull but essential functionary who is caught between spreadsheet management at the top and at the other end the ones that haven’t found better paid jobs elsewhere.
"the MoD sucks at - precisely because defence priorities and requirements are always changing. That has always been the case which is why there is no era in history when British defence procurement was ever good."
Yes: we are not good at defining a moving target and it used to be very rare to have a prime contractor which meant that suppliers of one item could say its the other suppliers fault (that the wheel doesn't fit because the maker of the axle got it wrong, or whatever). A prime contractor is responsible for making all the parts work together.
It isn't quite as simple as blaming the changing requirements. One of the many problems is that contractors put their best personnel into their contracts divisions, whilst the civil service sees it as just a boring back office job with inevitable consequences. There are a multitude of other problems that I don't want to go into.
What made the encounter even more bizarre was the fact he was embarrassed trying to convince me, but carried on regardless...
Until I replied...
That's made me laugh!! 😅